random recent pics

 Lily is wearing her big bro's shoes... they are enjoying each other lately & like playing together.  Every morning as we are getting back in the van after dropping Peter off at preschool, she asks "ere's Pete?!"  (She knows the answer by now, she's just in the habit of asking.... so sweet!) 

 my 2 fav men

playing in the last patch of snow they found at the river

 i still like (LOVE) to hold her like a baby!!

the before pink and the to-be after "bleeker beige"... still in progress

today

It was a crazy morning (in real life and in my head)... 
went walking with Blair (that was the good part),
but Lily woke up with a red, inflamed, raw looking chin (ugh, it just hurts my spirit!),
then while I am showering, Peter decided to sneak a muffin (that we made yesterday) and leave a trail of crumbs thruout the entire house!  UGH.  No time to clean it up.
We leave late for Peter's audiology appt after rushing, rushing to all get ready, make 2 wrong turns near the school (into a park next door and into the school bus driveway) so arrive late too.
When I go into the "booth" to sit with Peter, Lily cries like crazy.  I leave the booth and Lily continues to cry b/c she doesn't understand why Peter is still in there (which IS sweet that she cares, but its just so frustrating for "us" to not be able to "behave" as the professionals who are helping us would like for us to... i.e., crying child that I have to help instead of being in the booth with Peter like they'd like me to be & we are not being quiet like we are supposed to be)... not loving 18-24 mos.  GOOD NEWS is that Peter's hearing is PERFECT!  I am thankful... had been praying, praying on the way over for God to allow me to submit to whatever His will is for Peter's life, despite my craziness. I am sure He would do that but I thank Him for perfect hearing.  (I'd assumed it was normal but you know that you never really know.)  Thankfully, the lady who tested was patient with us.  I can never thank others enough for that!  I promptly call Mike and leave him a message that Peter's hearing is great and I am getting a babysitter (for Lily)!  Hopefully, my last eval/therapy appt with both of them.  Its just not do-able.  Then outside, its like 20 degrees and the stroller won't close (there's stickiness in the lever-thingy from juice a while ago)... I almost decide to leave it in the parking lot.  I just felt so worked up.  Emily had to bear the brunt of it as she happened to call after we got home.  I wish I was more patient.  God help me.  
Thankfully, this afternoon has been better.  I've spent about 2 hours painting (the dining room, yay!)... now that I'm a little in, I can see progress, its not the frustrating initial feeling of thisisgoingtotakeforever!  Painting is nice b/c its just so mindless & the time to myself has given me the chance to regain my composure.  Thank you Lord!  

Admiration

My hat goes off to working moms!  My house has been in upheaval all week b/c I have used naptime to do this course.  My body just feels like its been racing all week to get this extra something done (the mental burden is as bad as the physical).  The grass is greener this week on my non-working side of the fence.  Sometimes I do wonder what it would be like to work part time but after this week, I'm reminded that I have it pretty darn good!

trying to press on

I am pushing thru my chemo certification renewal course.  I'd rather be re-doing my dining room.  I found curtains at a consignment shop at the river... so am scheming my dining room re-do.  Here's the fabric...

Rose Tree St Croix

This picture isn't a great representation.  Its way too busy looking & matchy-matchy.  But I found the long window panels (no valance, like in the picture) and so am using them as my starting point.  I am dreaming of non-pink walls, too.  How hard is it to be doing an online course when there are blogs and website galore full of ideas....  press on, press on... off to more lessons....

and it is nice to be learning!!

i heart these pants

I wanted to get a picture of Lily in the outfit she wore today so I followed her around this eve (when I was supposed to be getting her in bed) to take pics of her.  I'm not sure who the pants came from but I found them in a box of handmedowns I went thru yesterday and I just love them...  so she had to wear them today... with her little white bubble shirt, new black cardigan from Gram, and black shoes.  Yes, the love attacks for her continue...  it's the cheeks too!!  Really, every inch of her.

 Playing with Pete's tools (she now calls him Pete, sounds like "Bete", most of the time)

Note the play doh on her shoes... I like to think I've relaxed a little ;)

 "Cheese"... I think she inherited the "blink for the camera" gene...

 she's carrying her dog around in the purse she got from Maw for Cmas

 (Mike was being the more responsible parent and getting Peter ready for bed)

 She likes to carry a bag around and say "BYE!"

Adoring this girl just never gets old...

Cinny

This is the sweet queen kitty of the Dennis house, Cinnamon.  

She's been our girl since 1990 so was 21+ years old.

Tho I am not a huge animal person now, I've always been attached to Mom and Dad's animals (the ones we grew up with, that is)... so my eyes are a little teary b/c she is no longer with us.

She was quiet and gentle, very feminine and graceful so by her sweetness, she earned the position of Queen C.  

We loved you and will miss you, Cin-Cin!

peter's quote of the day

(we are in the van and peter is talking about growing up to be mommies and daddies.  i explain that boys grow up to be daddys and girls grow up to be mommys...)

he says "When I grow up to be a Daddy, I want to rock Lily"... oh, my sweet boy

Hugs

We played ring around the rosie and jumped on the bed in Lily's room this week.

The falling down landed them in some hugs!

 

 

 Peter has been totally into this floor puzzle from NeeNee all week!  He is getting the hang of it and wants to do it over and over. 

New Ornaments

Warning: I'm resorting to doing a post about my Christmas tree ornaments...  Can you tell we are a little bored this week...no Wellspring, no preschool, etc  (I'm sure I dream of these weeks when things are too hectic...)  I just took the ornaments off the tree.  I usually do it before now but I was enjoying the extra festiveness in blah January and we put it up late, plus I got new ornaments that I just LOVE after Christmas!

I've never had great ones... here's the evidence...

I do love some of these sweet ones with P&L's names, special events/trips, etc

 Last year before Christmas, I got tubes of these colorful balls from Target... exciting, huh?!

 and our special picture ornaments!  We got fun ones this year of Peter driving the firetruck that came to preschool (in the center, upside down) and one from Wellsquirts (love his sweet face!)

 BUT... here's the exciting part, if anyone is still with me!!!...

This year, after 4 years in this house, I finally decided to give up RED.  I don't love the color and we have a PINK dining room that isn't changing (unless there is a fairy painter out there) so red just clashes in our house.  I finally decided that I am going to make PINK my Christmas red... isn't that more fun?!  I have slowly gotten rid of reds over the years but this year I finally got rid of all of it.

After Christmas, Mom and I went to a 75% off sale on all Christmas items at a gift shop in L'ville!  I am a cheap skate so I would never have splurged on nice ornaments, esp while I am not working.  I was SO excited about my finds!  I got a TON of stuff for $25... so $100 worth of new ornaments!! (plus some for gifts for next year!)  I've enjoyed looking at them for the past 2 weeks and was sorta sad to pack them up...

I got these cute kid ornaments for P&L (aren't they cute!)...

 and these nice, big green & gold balls (& 2 pink trees) plus a bunch of smaller pink balls... they look more sophisticated than my lame Target balls ;) 

 I found this antler ornament that I loved so I decided to make it an ornament to remember Alvin & Charlie... and God's faithfulness in a year of loss.

And remembering that they so quickly went to be with the Lord is such a sobering reminder to treasure & love the ones we have while they are with us.  We are not guaranteed endless Christmases with loved ones.  We also know its our loss, they rejoice in Heaven even today.  And we trust God's plan.  We know He is for us in Jesus & has provided for our ultimate need.

18 months and 3.3 years

 Today is our girl's half birthday.  She is one and a half.  

My baby is growing up.  What a joy she is!!

We celebrated by having Maw with us, going to Chick-fil-a for lunch, then her 18 mo check up.  

Her weight is 22 lbs 9 oz and her height is 31 1/2 inches.

(Peter was 27 lbs and 34 inches.)

We have a petite little girl but we think she is perfect (and a lot lighter to carry!)

She continues to be such an easy & delightful child.  She has showed us that she's become an 18 month old by learning to say n-o and showing her will with tantrums.  But it feels much easier to take in stride this time.  I think the combination of her being able to communicate (!) since her speech and development are more typical plus a mom that's not a first-time mom and not pregnant makes it all feel significantly easier this time around.  Sigh.

Her words abound and amaze me... lately its 2-3 syllable words or 2 word combinations (P began to do that at about 26-28 mo old with Charlotte's help (thank you Cha!)... not that we don't know that Peter is wonderfully made & love him to pieces, its just been so very noticeable how much easier normal speech development is for both of us!)  She regularly repeats words and some phrases...

she says all 4 grandparents names :) (and very fondly!), asks where people are "ere's Daddy?", "ere's Pe-tah?" plus...

air-pane, tur-tull (turtle), bee-bee (baby), chim (chin), hi ki-ki (hi kitty), whoo-whoo, read book, draw, cook, jump, down, walk, teeth, apple, ja-jet (jacket), opum (open), pa-eee (potty), bhoo-bhoo (poo-poo)... yes, she is showing interest in the potty- I can only hope!!

She sleeps for about 12-13 hours at night and takes a 2 hr nap.

She knows most basic body parts.

She loves to take tops on and off of things (just like her brother), thus the reason she's holding a glue stick in the pics above- don't worry, the glue was way down.

She is loving her big brother and loves to chase or be chased by him as she squeals!   She's also well learned on how to give him a hard time!!

We've seen the dermatologist twice for her chin... the conclusion has been contact dermatitis.  Our latest regimen (when its not irritated), is lanolin and aquaphor 4xday.  Its been cleared up for 2 weeks and it took me about a week after that to get the courage to stop the steroid and antibiotic cream but it has continued to look great for the last week.  She fondly refers to her aquaphor as "chim".

~~~

I have to brag on my little man too.  He's had such a good week.  He's been kind and helpful, has used his kind words more than just pushing or taking.  (and I think he is biting his hand less!!!)  Tonight he played with is play doh for 1 1/2 hours (!), the longest he ever has.  We are happy about that b/c its working his hands (generally, he avoids that type activity).  He also took stickers off of their paper and put them on something else.  He did a lot of stickers and without any help from me!!  (I also didn't have him put them on paper, so maybe that's the issue.  It may seems silly to him to take them off one "paper" and put them on another which is typically how I present it to him... maybe I need to have him decorate things- not a childhood specialist over here!! ;)

He was happy that the cow was a fireman today!!!  Isn't he so cute posing?!  He's such a sweet boy & is always impressing me with his compassion and thoughtfulness of others!  I love playing rough and tickling him.  His laugh and enthusiasm are priceless.  Thank you, God, for this boy!

Family Get-Away

Mike was off most of last week.  Since I am home everyday, it just isn't vacation to me to be at home when Mike is off, so we decided to take a little overnight to Williamsburg on NYE.  I think it was the first time we have been anywhere overnight just the 4 of us.  We have been blessed to always be with grandparents, which we love.  So we decided to live on the wild side and venture out on our own!  It was SO FUN!  Stress seems to disappear when someone else is cleaning and cooking.  We picked a place that had an indoor pool so we could all go swimming.  Sadly, my camera battery died after the first (blurry) picture at the pool.  

It was so nice... we just played and played and looked our kids in the eyes instead of just "managing" them.  It is nice to feel like you can live from a child's perspective when you're away and don't have the responsibilities of everyday life.  And I've been getting the feeling/glimpse lately of 2 kids (not babies) who can do some things on their own (like walk, not be strolled, communicate, don't need 600 bags for every outting, etc)... its won-der-ful!!  After the pool, we went out for yummy pizza.

  And don't my kids have the nicest Daddy!  I love him and like hanging out, co-parenting with him a lot!  I could do vacation more often!!  ;)

Mike and I stopped for our favorite drink at Food Lion ;), toasted in the bathroom (gross!) after the kids went to sleep, played iPhone games, then hit the hay at 10pm!  Midnight isn't so appealing anymore!  

Lily and Peter enjoyed some good hide-and-seek the next morning at the hotel...

aren't they just too cute!! 

 WHERE'S PETER?!

 loving some big brother hugs and play time!!

 The next morning we hoped to go to this museum... but then realized it was New Year's Day so CLOSED... :(  Oh well, it was vacation, no need to stress.

 But Peter got to run thru some snow so everything was OK in his book!

 Later in the day, we found these sweet gingerbread children and scooped them up to bring home with us!

Mike was so sweet to sit in the van with the kids while they napped so I could shop at the outlets!!  It was such a nice trip... it mostly centered around me and my need to not be at home.  Mike was so sweet to love me by taking us away so I could be away from everyday chores & responsibilities.  Thank you, Michael!  I heart you!

Oh, and on the way home, we stopped for a wonderful dinner with the Andrews!  Bonus!!

Murder Mystery Dinner

Mike and I had the MOST FUN date night during vacation week.  We counted this as our big NYE event.  Our friends, Brian and Megan, hosted our small group for dinner and a murder mystery.  I'd never done one before!  It was the most fun!  We laughed SO HARD.... it was hilarious!!! Everyone came dressed in costume (tho I think we were the best- & Blair :)-, if I do say so myself).  I was an airline stewardess (but really an FBI agent in disguise).  Thanks to Kathy and her sisters for coming up with my "extras"- the scarf, hat, and wings on my suit jacket and hat.  Mike was a bodyguard to Greg (really a KGB agent).  This pic doesn't give the full effect of Mike's greased back hair.  Mike's game name was Roberto so he did a bad accent the whole time and had all of us in tears laughing at him.  Yes, I've pulled my husband down in the humor category.  HE IS FUNNY!  I am ready for another party already.  Brian and Megan were amazing cooks and hosts.  Big thanks to Kathy and Ski for watching our kids late into the night!

snow much fun

Tuesday was BRIGHT and SUNNY and with snow covering everything, a clear BLUE SKY... it was sooo BEAUTIFUL outside!  Some sun therapy in winter!  

Maw and Paw had to go to work so our little family bundled all up and headed to the sunny winter wonderland.

 We headed to the hill on the back of M&D's property for some sledding...

Mike found these cool boogie board sleds at a yard sale last spring- it was perfect. 

 heading back...

 "tha Coppa dawg" joined us like the good ole buddy he is...

 Peter LOVES Copper.  He totally thinks they are best friends and that he is Copper's caretaker.  The only way I could get him to walk back to the house after sledding (instead of asking to be carried) was asking Peter to help Copper walk back... "Come on Coppa dawg, walk dis way, good boy..."  It was the sweetest thing.

 (back at the house, Peter loves getting treat bones out of the jar for Copper.  He calls Copper over to his blanket and tells him where to lay on his bed, by the fire to get warm.... all in the sweetest little caring voice.  We are not dog people so its a perfect that he gets to love on sweet Copper at Maw and Paw's house.)

After sledding, we built a snowman!  The snow was packing so well so I wanted a TALL snowman.  Peter helped a little but...

 then he was "done" and off to here...

... to drive the tractor!

 The kids were getting tired so we never decorated our snowman but he was still handsome and had a nice shape ;)

 ("over there, look at the camera pete!")

 and our snowman family foto!!

It was just so great to be outside that day.  The sun... yes, so bright (i love me some sunshine!), and the little bit of physical activity to get warm enough to unzip... and just all playing together, it was SNOW MUCH FUN!